Deleted by author. Thanks everyone! Forum

[LAWLADI2011]

thanks

[JD2014]

Professor LORs are preferred. An employer LOR is a nice addition, but if they aren't willing to write one for you, don't do it. I don't know how, but people claim they can tell when an LOR is written by the candidate, and it's frowned upon.

[yngblkgifted]

Tough call. I would let him know that adcomms can tell a lot of times when it is written by the applicant. TBH, if he really liked you (as he should since you're asking him for a LOR), then he shouldn't have a problem writing the letter himself.

[ahduth]

Standard advice is to find someone else if they don't want to write it.

[TTH]

If your selling your work experience and maturity as part of your application package, then I would include an LOR from either that employer or one of your previous employers along with (read: not instead of) an academic LOR.

[DocHawkeye]

For schools that called for three LOR's, I used two academic ones (from former profs who knew me well) and one from my current employer. I felt it helped bridge the gap since I have been out of school for five years. All told, I had a pretty good cycle, so I it seems my approach worked well.